The present invention relates to a system and method for lubricant manufacture. In particular, the invention relates to the blending of raw materials to form a lubricant having predetermined characteristics.
In the prior art, lubricant blending is based on fixed formulations generated from laboratories. The raw materials used are usually derived from petroleum processes and there are significant batch-to-batch variations. Therefore, the finished oil properties such as viscosity and metal contents usually reflect the variations in raw materials. The variations in raw materials as well as in finished lubricants are the limiting factors for continuous improvement in blending capability. In recent years, new specifications such as volatility and sulfur content had been added to automotive engine lubricants, making it even harder to blend lubricants meeting multiple specifications
Recent advances in in-line or batch blending technology allow high level of automation in lubricant blending. However, little progress has been made in addressing the issues related to raw material variations and finished lubricant optimization.
The present invention includes a system and method for lubricant manufacture, in which the finished lubricants manufactured using this system and method are a combination of raw materials that result in a lubricant having predetermined characteristics. Furthermore, these lubricants show significant reduction in variations in viscosity and other parameters.